By Mike McIntyre
It was lucky number seven as Marcos Baghdatis defeated Roger Federer Tuesday night in Indian Wells 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(4). After losing their previous six encounters, Baghdatis finally came through with a win over the world number one and the jubilant Cypriot called the match the, "Best win of my career."
Baghdatis saved three match points and came back from a 1-4 deficit in the third and final set. Federer committed 46 unforced errors and clearly is still trying to find his form after a month and a half away from the court. The result should not really come as a huge surprise given Roger's lack of match play since winning his sixteenth Grand Slam title in January at the Australian Open. With a recent lung infection as well, I figured Federer would have a tough time advancing deep into the draw.
In his post-match press conference Federer said: “It was a decent match, but maybe wrong choices at the wrong time for me. Maybe going for too much, maybe playing too passively. That's not something you can really work on. That comes through playing matches, and that's what I need. I hope to get more of it in Miami, but I will definitely play a lot of practice sets, that's for sure, until then.”
As for the 24-year-old Baghdatis, his comments reveal just how important this victory was.
“I think that says everything. I cannot say I'm not happy. I'm very happy. A lot of emotions are going through right now. It's the best win of my career. I lost a lot of matches against those top guys, and it's a relief to win a match like that after being out for two years, having some tough moments. It's a great moment for me. I'll try to enjoy it.”
Baghdatis now advances to the fourth round against Tommy Robredo as the BNP Paribas Open continues.
I dunno why I get more pleasure out of him losing than any other player. Must be because it reminds us that he is still human. And then that in itself reminds us of all the non human like things he has accomplished.
Posted by: tennis shorts | March 20, 2010 at 06:14 AM